BlueStacks upgrades to Android Ice Cream Sandwich to run Windows and Mac OS

BlueStacks is a very handy utility which gives users the ability to run Android applications on Windows and Mac OS. The tool was running on Android Gingerbread, which is quite old as a majority of Android devices are running on Android Jelly Bean. The application was recently update and is making the leap to Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich update is still quite old, but it should be fine for most of the users as it can run a majority of applications. In addition, the application may not require all the new features which are available in the latest Android 4.4 KitKat operating system. The main purpose of the App Player is to run Android apps and games on a Windows PC, which Ice Cream Sandwich supports, at least for a majority of popular titles available in the Google Play Store.

However, we’d still love to see the App player getting updated to Android Jelly Bean, but it would become a necessity when applications will start dropping support for the two-year OS. Until it does so, I think Bluestacks users should be perfectly fine. Do you use BlueStacks App Player? Share your thoughts about the App Player if you’ve used it.

Via - Android Community

Users will be able to try the Xbox One until its official launch on 22nd of November

New Xbox One weeks ahead of launch, there’s good news for your from the folks at Redmond. Microsoft said users interested in giving the gaming console a spin can visit a Microsoft Store across US and Canada. Users will be able to try the Xbox One until its official launch on 22nd of November and play the exclusive Forza Motorsport 5.

Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft Retail Stores David McAughan mentioned,

I’m excited to share that we’re giving you an advance opportunity to come in and start experiencing Xbox One. Microsoft retail stores will enable consumers to experience Xbox One gameplay all day, every day leading up to Nov. 22.  Fans will get to experience the thrill of racing and play the Xbox One exclusive title “Forza Motorsport 5.” They will also get a chance to check out improvements made to the best controllers in gaming.

Additionally, Microsoft is offering a promotion valid until the end of the year. Under the promotion, customers who visit the Microsoft Store and try Xbox One will be entered to win the “Forza Motorsport 5” Living Room Sweepstakes that includes Polk Audio N1 Gaming SurroundBar, Thrustmaster TX Racing Wheel Ferrari 458 Italia Edition, and a $2,000 gift card to use towards a purchase of a new TV.

How good does that sound? Visit any of the 75 retail locations across U.S. and Canada, and get a chance to win these amazing prizes.

Via - Xbox, Engadget

BlackBerry board rejected proposals to break up company - sources

(Reuters) - BlackBerry Ltd's board does not believe a break-up of the Canadian smartphone maker is currently in its best interests, even though Microsoft Corp, Apple Inc and Lenovo Group Ltd, among others, have expressed interest in acquiring parts of the company, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The board rejected proposals from several technology companies for various BlackBerry assets on grounds that a break-up did not serve the interest of all stakeholders, which include employees, customers and suppliers in addition to shareholders, said the sources, who did not want to be identified as the discussions were confidential.

Microsoft and Apple had both expressed interest in BlackBerry's intellectual property and patents, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters. In 2011, the three companies had teamed up with others to buy patents from bankrupt Canadian telecoms company Nortel.

BlackBerry had also held discussions with Cisco Systems Inc, Google Inc and Chinese computer maker Lenovo, among others, about selling all, or parts of itself, Reuters previously reported.

A BlackBerry spokeswoman declined to comment on the board's deliberations, and it is not known what specific proposals were rejected by directors during the company's three-month-long review of strategic options. Microsoft, Apple and the other tech companies have all declined to comment on the matter.

BlackBerry stunned investors on Monday by abandoning plans to sell itself, naming a new interim chief executive, and announcing an $1 billion convertible notes issue to a group of investors including its largest shareholder Fairfax Financial Holdings, Canso Investment Counsel, Mackenzie Financial, Markel Corp, Qatar Holding and Brookfield Asset Management.

BlackBerry shares fell 16 percent on the news as investors fretted the company may have missed an opportunity to deliver shareholder value.

But the board felt the notes issue offered BlackBerry the most near-term certainty and the best chance for a turnaround, said the people familiar with the discussions. Most alternative proposals would have broken up the Waterloo, Ontario-based company, which was not in the best interests of all stakeholders, they added.

One of the sources said the board also took into consideration the current cost of the break-up. Winding down some of BlackBerry's businesses would have created liabilities, including in its commitments with suppliers, and would have weighed on the monetization of the company's intellectual property, the source said.

BlackBerry's assets range from devices and network assets to software and patents. Some of these assets are so intertwined they could lose value in a company break-up, another source added.
 
The board was also concerned that any deal involving foreign companies would be closely scrutinized by the Canadian government in an extended review process, the sources said, prolonging uncertainty and making it harder for BlackBerry to stem customer losses.

Last month, Canada blocked an Egyptian telecommunication entrepreneur's bid to acquire the Allstream fiber optic network owned by Manitoba Telecom Services, citing unspecified security concerns.

The sources stressed the board's decision not to break up BlackBerry reflected the current situation and did not preclude a future split. But future proposals will likely be measured by a similar yardstick.

A landmark Supreme Court of Canada ruling in the BCE case in 2008 said a Canadian company's board needs to consider the interests of all stakeholders, not just shareholders, when it decides on a deal. Stakeholders can include employees, customers, suppliers and the wider community.

In 2007, telecoms company BCE Inc agreed to a leveraged buyout that offered its shareholders a substantial premium, but the deal hurt the company's bond prices, and its debt holders challenged the deal in court.

While the deal eventually fell apart for other reasons, the Supreme Court ruled that a company's board has to take into consideration the interests of all stakeholders and not just its investors, when deciding on the merits of a deal.

Towards the end of BlackBerry's review of strategic alternatives, a consortium comprised of BlackBerry founders Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin, Cerberus Capital Management LP and mobile chip giant Qualcomm had expressed interest in the company.

BlackBerry's board dismissed that proposal as too tentative since it lacked committed financing, sources familiar with the matter said, adding that this does not mean that the board is closed to entertaining proposals in the future. (Additional reporting by Alastair Sharp in Toronto and Nadia Damouni and Soyoung Kim in New York; Editing by Tiffany Wu and Tim Dobbyn).

Via - reuters.com

OPPO N1 CyanogenMod version is expected great features in next month

OPPO has today announced that a new and very unique smartphone in the form of the OPPO N1 limited edition supplied running CyanogenMod will launch in time for the holiday season next month. Enabling interested customers to get their hands on the limited edition smartphone running CyanogenMod, which was leaked back in August and then later unveiled by OPPO in September of this year.

The OPPO N1 smartphone is equipped with a 5.9-inch full HD display sporting a resolution of 1920 x 1080p with 377 ppi. Its powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 800 chipset with a clock speed of 1.7GHz with Adreno 320 supported by 2GB RAM. The OPPO N1 CyanogenMod version is expected to be available with either 16 or 32GB of storage, together with a massive 3,610 mAh battery. The OPPO N1 CyanogenMod version will be available alongside the standard version of the smartphone which will run Oppo’s Color operating system based on Google’s Android 4.2 operating system.

The limited edition OPPO N1 CyanogenMod version will be bundled with juicy extras includingCyanogenMod stickers, packaging, and a specially designed case featuring the CyanogenMod and OPPO logos.

“OPPO’s partnership with CyanogenMod marks the creation of the world’s first CyanogenMod hardware product. It is also the first time CyanogenMod has made software customizations for a smartphone manufacturer. The CyanogenMod team has tailored their software to specifically support all of the unique features of the OPPO N1 including the O-Touch back touch panel, O-Click Bluetooth remote control, the revolutionary rotating camera, and also unique features from ColorOS such as double tap to wake and screen-off gestures.”

To know more information on the new OPPO N1 CyanogenMod Limited Edition smartphone jump over to the OPPO website for details.

Via - OPPO

UK Government has announced a plan to test driverless cars

Google have been testing driverless cars in the US for a while now, and the UK Government has announced a plan to test a fleet of driverless cars in the UK. This fleet or driverless electric vehicles are headed to Milton Keynes in 2015, and people will be able to book the cars via a smartphone app, each car can carry two people.

So what do you do whilst your an in the driverless car, not driving? The cars will come with built in touchscreens that will allow the passengers to browse the web, check their emails and more. The UK Government plans to have twenty of these pod cars in operation by 2015, the scheme will then be expanded to a total of 80 pod cars by 2017.

The cars are being developed by engineering firm Arup and and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. There are already some driverless electric vehicles in Heathrow Airport, but these new pod cars will be the first cars with no drivers that will be used on public roads in the UK.

The scheme will cost the British taxpayer around £1.5 million and is part of a £75 million scheme which is being used to encourage companies to develop low carbon technology in the UK.

Via - BBC, Digital Trends

Griffin Technology announced latest remote control toy called the 'Moto TC Rally'

Griffin Technology has announced its latest remote control toy called the Moto TC Rally. The remote control car is controlled using a smartphone application that runs on iOS devices. There are plenty of iOS controlled remote control toys on the market today, but the Moto TC Rally has some interesting features that I’ve never seen in a toy of this type.

The toy can be controlled using the iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch using a free app available on the App Store. Griffin fits the car with impact sensors all around allowing cool Bump n’ Run mode allowing players to create a realistic driving and racing experience with other users. Competing players will be able to crash their remote-controlled vehicles into each other and the more virtual damage the vehicle sustains, the more the performance is affected.

The toy also has a Race The Clock mode that works alone or with other cars at the same time. The controller app also has a built-in lap counter. One of the coolest features of the Bump n’ Run mode is that drivers can cause virtual damage and earn points for attacking opponents. Players can attack their opponents with the ability to reduce the opponents speed, mass with their controls, and flip the steering inputs. The toy is available now for $99.99.

Via - Griffin

Counter-Strike: GO new update has been rolled out by great offer

Counter-Strike: GO players might be interested to learn that a new update has been rolled out by Valve for their Counter-Strike: Global Offensive game which brigs with it the ability to earn keyless DreamHack Winter 2013 Souvenir Packages. The earn keyless DreamHack Winter 2013 Souvenir Packages can be earned by simply connecting your Steam account to Twitch and watching live 2013 DreamHack SteelSeries CS:GO Championship matches on Twitch or GOTV.

Other features included in the latest update include some slight changes to gameplay such as changes to the C4 planting sounds. Now when planting the bomb, the game will play an initialisation sound that everyone can hear, but only the player planting will hear the code typing sounds. Allow players to fake planting similar to fake diffusing as a CT. Other fixes, tweaks and performance enhancements include fixes to the teammate arrows not showing up in some cases and the automatic observer target selection failing to find a controllable bot when a player was killed.

To know more news on what was rolled out in the latest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive update realised by Valve jump over to the Steam news website for full details and release notes. Also check out the DreamHack Counter-Strike: GO Twitch site here.

Via - Destructoid

Google released new version 7.4 of Google Maps for Android

Google has released a new version of Google Maps for Android, the latest version of the app comes with some bug fixes, the latest version of the app is version 7.4. Apart from the bug fixes, there are a few small changes in the latest version of Google Maps for Android, which include some minor UI tweaks.

Explore new places, discover local favorites, and navigate your world with Google Maps. Available on Android phones and tablets with a simple, easy-to-use design.

- Get where you need to go quickly with voice guided turn-by-turn GPS navigation, or try public transit, biking, and walking directions
- Find the perfect spot for any occasion with local reviews from trusted friends and experts
- Tour cities with stunning, 360-degree Street View and see inside restaurants, museums and more
- Sign in to save favorite locations, get tailored recommendations, and access past searches across devices

Now you can download the latest version of Google Maps for Android from the Google Play Store.

Via - Android Police

Blizzard announced Diablo III game has sold over 14 million copies since they launch

Blizzard has this week announced that their Diablo III game has sold over 14 million copies since it launch across all the platforms it was launched on. The news of the sales was made by Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime during the recent financial call to investors. 

Morhaime explained to investors : “We’re pleased with the response to the game’s launch on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360,”-“Lifetime sell through of the game across all platforms has reached over 14 million copies, and reviews have been very positive about how the game plays on consoles.”

Diablo III fans might also be interested in newly Diablo III Reaper of Souls leaked trailer which was made available today providing a glimpse of the gameplay you can expect in the next Diablo III Reaper of Souls expansion for the game which is currently under development by Blizzard. The new Diablo III: Reaper of Souls expansion was first unveiled at at Gamescom 2013 and is a pack which requires the original Diablo III action role-playing video game to be played.

“After Diablo’s defeat, Tyrael recovers the Black Soulstone that contains the essence of all seven of the Great Evils. Knowing it is too dangerous to leave in the hands of mortals or angels, he and four Horadrim take the Black Soulstone back to Sanctuary and attempt to seal it away where it can never be found.”

Watch the Video of GE cold Spray Technology - 3D painting works

3D Printing may be good for making new parts, earlier today we saw the first 3D printed metal gun, but what happens if you want to repair existing metal parts, rather than pricing new ones? A new technology, 3D painting is being developed that can repair existing parts. the technology is being developed by GE and it was previously known as cold spray.

“[W]hat’s particularly exciting about cold spray as an innovative, 3D process is that it affords us the opportunity to restore parts using materials that blend in and mirror the properties of the original part itself. This extends the lifespan of parts by years, or possibly by decades.”

The video below shows how 3D painting works, the metal is sprayed onto an existing metal part, and it can repair any damage to that part. There are a couple of benefits to 3D painting, which include safety, as it is done at room temperature, there are not the same risk that there are with welding or soldering.

What also makes the technology interesting, is that it can easily be scaled, the video shows a small machine repairing a small metal part, this can be scaled to larger machines to repair larger parts.

Via - GE, Gizmodo

Apple to add new features in iWork’s suite of applications over the next 6 months

New versions of its Apple iWork’s suite of applications for free last month, Apple received a fair amount of criticism for removing some of the features within the Pages, Numbers and Keynote applications which previous users had come to rely on. Now after receiving feedback from users Apple has announced that it will be making a U-turn of sorts and reinstating some of the missing iWorks features in the next few releases as well as add new features on an ongoing basis.

Some of the new features you can expect to see in Apple’s iWork’s suite of applications over the next 6 months include:

Pages
Customize toolbar
Vertical ruler
Improved alignment guides
Improved object placement
Import of cells with images
Improved word counts
Keyboard shortcuts for styles
Manage pages and sections from the thumbnail view

Numbers
Customize toolbar
Improvements to zoom and window placement
Multi-column and range sort
Auto-complete text in cells
Page headers and footers
Improvements to AppleScript support

Keynote
Customize toolbar
Restoring old transitions and builds
Improvements to presenter display
Improvements to AppleScript support

As well as making their iWork’s suite of applications free to Apple device owners, Apple also announced that they will be releasing their new OS X Mavericks operating system for free as well as all-new operating system updates in the future. Making Microsoft look a little silly charging for its latest Windows 8.1 operating system update for users that didn’t already own Windows 8.

To know more information on the new missing Apple iWork features go to the official Apple website for details.

Via - Apple

Microsoft revealed owners Xbox One can won achievement awards by watching movies

As well as releasing a new 12 minute Xbox One guided tour video, Microsoft has also revealed that owners of their new next-generation Xbox One games console will also be able to end Xbox One media achievement awards by watching movies through their console. News of the new Xbox One media achievement was revealed by Microsoft in a post this morning which introduced the first wave of TV and entertainment applications which will be available on the Xbox One games console when it launches in less than 2 weeks time.

Microsoft explained in their Xbox One entertainment apps update today :

“In addition to delivering live TV in every market where Xbox One will be sold, we are also bringing premium, voice and gesture controlled TV and entertainment apps specifically designed for your living room. These apps have been built from the ground up uniquely for Xbox One and are designed to harness the power of the all-in-one platform.

For example, Xbox One is empowering partners to bring media achievements and exclusive Snap experiences, as well as many other things to entertainment apps, offering everybody the opportunity to achieve badges or rewards for the media they consume in addition to gaming.”

The Xbox One games console launches on November 22nd 2013 and is priced at $499.99 in the US, £429.99 in the UK and 499.99 Euros throughout Europe and $599.99 AU in Australia.

Via - Ars Technica

Google Nexus 5 is now available from US mobile carrier Sprint

Google’s latest flagship Android smartphone, the Google Nexus 5 is now available from US mobile carrier Sprint. The handset will set you back $149.99 when you take out a new two year contract with the carrier. The $149.99 price is after a $50 mail in rebate from the carrier, and you will need to take out a new two year contract, with prices starting at $18.75 per month, the deal applies to new customers and existing customers who are eligible for an upgrade.

The Google Nexus 5 comes with Android 4.4 Kit Kat, the handset comes with an impressive range of specifications and features, which include Qualcomm’s latest high end mobile processor. The Nexus 5 is powered by a quad core 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 processor, graphics are provided by an Adreno 330 GPU and there is also 2GB of RAM.

For storage you can choose between a 16GB and 32GB model, Sprint are offering the $16GB model for $149.99 (after rebates), the device also features front and rear facing cameras. On the front of the Nexus 5 is 1.3 megapixel camera for video chat, on the back of the handset is an 8 megapixel camera that is equipped with optical image stabilization and can record full HD video in 1080p.

Now you can find out more details about the Google Nexus 5 over at Sprint, the device is also available off contract for $449, which is $100 more than the handset retails for on the Google Play Store.

Via - Phandroid and Image Credit: iFixit

Total of 19 entertainment apps during the “first wave” of the Xbox One’s launch

Sony already had it’s own announcement that let us know that the PS4 will have 11 entertainment applications at the launch of the PlayStation 4. All of the usuals are there: Netflix, Hulu Plus and Redbox Instant by Verizon. Now it’s Microsoft’s turn to announce which entertainment apps the Xbox One will launch with.

The Xbox One will launch with a total of 19 entertainment apps during the “first wave” of the Xbox One’s launch across all 13 markets. Microsoft didn’t specify say which entertainment apps will be available on day one, which makes us suspect that many will not be downloadable once your Xbox One is ready to go. We will have to wait and see.

Microsoft’s list includes apps from Verizon FiOS TV, FX Now, Fox Now, ESPN and CWTV, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu Plus and Redbox Instant by Verizon. There are also apps from Crackle, Machinima, MUZU TV, Target Ticket, TED, The NFL on Xbox One, Twitch, Univision Deportes and Vudu. HBO Go, is listed as “coming soon,”. When it does you will be able to enjoy all of HBO’s hit shows on your Xbox One as well. It’s a pretty good list with something for everyone in the family.

Via - Ubergizmo

Amazon received Huge Shipment Of PS4 Consoles and get ready to pre-order

Sony’s PlayStation 4 is just one week away from being released. Are you excited? Of course you are. A thousand unboxing videos and squees are just around the corner. Wherever you pre-ordered your PlayStation 4, you can expect that shipments of the console are starting to roll in to retailers in order to get into your waiting hands.

Amazon received their shipments of PlayStation 4 already and so they have decided to make us salivate by showing us a photo of their warehouse, which is filled with Sony’s next-generation console. Amazon Video Games tweeted the photo with the message “Greatness has arrived. Will it be coming to you?”.

It looks like there are about 54 PlayStation 4s per pallet. How many pallets are there in total? A ton! If you pre-ordered your PlayStation 4 from Amazon, this should get your heart racing. Wherever you pre-ordered your Playstation 4 from, they probably have it right about now. And on release day it will feel like Christmas came early. Is your shiny new console among those in the image? I think I see mine. Yeah, there it is right there. Just waiting to meet me for the first time. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait.

Via - Ubergizmo